Sooooo Big!

I really don't have much time to write this. Little Jacob has been on "strike" with his naps lately again, so I haven't been able to get much done around the house during the day. I try - TRY - to catch up a little at night, but by then I'm so exhausted and just pass out with him or else kick back and relax for a minute. Until yesterday, it had been two or three weeks since I'd checked my email, and it's been just as long since I've updated this blog. There's so much I WANT to write, but I'll have to save it for another post. Maybe... hopefully... I'll get around to writing it this weekend before I forget all of what I want to write.

Jacob had his four-month appointment with his pediatrician last Monday. His percentages for his weight and height have really shot up since his two-month appointment. On his first and second visit, he was only in the 3rd - 5th percentile... but now he's up to 14 pounds, 7 1/2 ounces (38%) and is 25 inches tall (50%)! He's still a lot smaller than a lot of other babies that I've seen who are his age, but he looks so big to me. I'm so glad I've been taking pictures like crazy every since he was born. It's amazing to look back on his earlier pictures and see how tiny and skinny he was compared to how healthy and vibrant he is now. Poor little guy. It makes me feel so bad about not switching to the soy formula earlier. Two months of horrible upset stomach and painful gas - the screaming, the crying, the lack of sleep on our part. If only I had trusted my instincts and researched a little more a little earlier. :( Sigh. Anyway... there's nothing I can do about that now. I just need to be thankful I switched him over and that he's doing 100% better now in so many ways.

Now that he's getting bigger, it's getting harder and harder to stand and hold him in one arm while feeding him with the other... and it's even getter harder to find a comfortable way to hold him on my lap for feedings. Plus, his feet touch the arm of the rocking chair, so I'm convinced that he's starting to kick his feet around to touch the wood as a way to keep himself awake. :P He has such great visual focus now and knows to grab the bottle and move it to his mouth (most times)... but of course he just doesn't have the strength and flexibility in his fingers to hold his bottle on his own yet. If only bottles had handles (and didn't weigh so much with formula in them!), he'd be feeding himself by now.

Let's see. What else?

He's starting to enjoy standing up on his feet and stretching out his legs. He can stand for a few seconds at a time when we hold him up for support. Tummy Time, though, is STILL not getting anywhere. It seems like there's never a right time to fit it into the day. Whenever he wakes up from sleeping, he wants to eat. That can take up to thirty minutes sometimes depending on how hungry he is. And then he sits up (in our laps or in his bouncy chair or his stroller) for a while to make sure his tummy settles. Even then, he STILL spits up food pretty often without much excitement... and by then he starts getting fussy and is ready for more food and a Power Nap again! Aaaack! Just have to keep trying whenever we can, I guess. Maybe he needs some little friends to be his role models. :P

Over the past few weeks, Jacob's really started to babble a lot more throughout the day... and to giggle like crazy on occasion! It's so cute. He's starting to get ticklish - on the bottoms of his feet and certain spots on his tummy - and will smile and then burst out with a loud cackling giggle. He's still all about putting everything in his mouth (I imagine he will be for a while), and a lot of his babbling starts out when he sticks something in there. I try to mimic his babbles or try to figure out what vowel/consonant it sounds closest to and say a few simple words that start with that sound. Sometimes our "conversations" last for ten minutes or more.

I've started signing to him - "Mommy" when I'm changing him or looking at him and playing on the couch or in his chair and then "drink" when talking about his ba-ba and being hungry. He really watches my hands while he's listening, so I'm hoping he starts picking this up to help us out until he's able to verbally communicate with us.

Well, I should head off to bed for tonight. Long weekend ahead.

One... two... three... FOUR!

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Last year on Mother's Day, I took a home pregnancy test and found out that I was pregnant. This year, I have a little one who has made such a change in my life... that it doesn't even seem real that I wasn't a mother last year. I love little Jacob so much. I loved him the moment I saw his tiny little image thrashing around on the ultrasound. I fell in love with him even more the first minute I saw him... and then even more when we brought him home and he stared into our eyes each time we held him or fed him. My heart ached with a love beyond words as his tiny little eyes seemed to peer right into my soul. This little being depended on me for e v e r y t h i n g. So tiny... so helpless... so precious. And now, four months have already passed. He gets bigger and bigger and cuter and cuter by the day, but I feel a little sad - a little twinge in my heart - when I look at all of the clothes he's already outgrown. I know it's a very good thing that he's growing... it's just bittersweet. I'm trying to treasure every moment, though, and trying to remind myself during the trying moments that he'll never be this little again.

During his first two months, I called him my "Little Bunky". Kinda like "monkey", I guess... except he wasn't a monkey-baby since he was so little and was having such a terrible time with his gas and the formula. Since he's been on the soy formula, I've found myself calling him "Bunky" less and less. I made up a little song with "Bunky Boo" in one of the verses that I still sing to him occasionally when he's eating and trying to fall asleep, but aside from that... he's now my "Little Buddy" or my "Cutie Pie". :P

Over the last three days or so, he's really been "talking" up a storm at various times during the day. Little "AAAAAAAAA"s and "IIIIII"s are the main noises along with "GAH"s and gurgling coos. He's been giggling quite a bit lately, too, but nothing crazy enough to post on youtube. :P Just cute enough to make me wish he would just smile and giggle all day and never get cranky or fussy.

His hands are still an endless source of fascination. Well, for his *mouth* anyway. He's started sucking on just his thumb every now and then, too... just like Mommy did when she was little. Hopefully that won't last any longer than the binky lasted.

He got a new toy recently that has balls that bounce and spin around when you push on the top... and then I brought out one of those old-school wobbly balls that have the animals in them that chime when you rock the ball back and forth. Jacob really seems to love these, but sometimes he gets so frustrated because (I'm assuming) he can't reach inside and grab the balls or animals to shove in his mouth.

He still loves listening to stories and looking at the pictures. I hope this is one interest that he never outgrows. He's also still enthralled by ceiling fans and lights. Sometimes he giggles at them or coos in contentment.

Tummy Time progress is still slow. Some days are better than others. I've been trying to get him to use his leg muscles to practice standing up or bouncing... just in case he wants to just skip crawling and start walking instead. :P

Jake still has no definitive sleep schedule. He continues to fight naps most of the time. Some nights he'll sleep from 8:30 pm until 5 am, but other nights he'll fall asleep around 7 or 8 and then wake up at 11:30 then 2 am then 5 or 6 am. Sigh. Sometimes I'm sure he would be able to sleep straight through if he didn't have bouts of gas that woke him up! Unless gas wakes him up in "normal" morning hours (5-6 am), he's generally pretty happy. Seeing his big, toothless grin and seeing his eyes light up when I lay him on the changing table makes the sleep deprivation a little more bearable. I'm really looking forward to the summer and to getting some extra sleep during the day when Dave's up to watch him. I've been taking care of Jacob EVERY time he wakes up for the past four months now since Dave claims to not be able to feed him in the dark and/or not be able to fall back asleep afterwards. (Well, I'm sure I could count on two hands... maybe even one... the times when Dave's done the middle-of-the-night or early-morning feedings without me having to get up, too.) It was manageable for the first two months or so, but having to get up twice a night and then work a full day and then come home to "relieve" Dave from taking care of him... it's just gotten to be too much. I NEED SLEEP! One of these days, I'm just going to have to go somewhere for a sleepover so that Dave can get a glimpse into exactly how little sleep I've been getting. Aaaaaaaaaanyway...

It's so incredible watching this little guy grow day by day. I know that he'll start sleeping through the nights one of these days, and then I'll probably think that I miss the 2 am mommy-baby time. :P I guess the teething stage is next along with grabbing for things more and learning to roll over and also sit up without support. As much as I love cuddling with him, I'm really looking forward to him being able to sit and entertain himself for a little while. Eating dinner when it's still warm will be nice. :P One of these days. :)

Ten Minutes with Jake

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A glimpse into Jacob's day for the people who can't be here to watch him grow up...



Rise 'n Shine!

Early morning diaper changing time (Don't worry... no actual diaper changing happening!)...





Strength Training

Over the past few weeks, Jacob's started to develop his neck muscles and is holding his head up more and more. He's still a bit wobbly. :P





Story Time

I was actually surprised that Jaccob was so interested in this book for this long (over 5 minutes!) since it's just a simple 5-word early sign language book. He sits like this for just about every story we read if he's in a good mood. I generally sit him up on the couch for story time, but this time he was in his vibrate-y bouncy chair.





Splish, Splash!

Jacob's been doing great with his baths for several weeks now, but this was the first time he realized how much fun he could have with them. I took his hands and splashed the water with them during his last bath before this one, but he didn't really respond at all. I did the same thing this time, and he just had a ball. :)




It's so fascinating watching him grow and realizing how quickly it's happening. I'm so glad that summer's coming soon and that I'll get to spend a lot more time with him.